Division Races
Tampa Bay and Seattle continued as "swing" teams that didn't participate in regular conference play. Every other NFL team played a home-and-away series against the other members in its division, three interconference games, and the remainder of their 14 game schedule against other conference teams. Tampa Bay switched to the NFC and played the other 13 members of the conference, while Seattle did the same in the AFC. The teams met in Week Five, with Seattle winning 30–23.
Starting in 1970, and through 2001, except for the strike-shortened 1982 season, there were three divisions (Eastern, Central and Western) in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play.
National Football Conference
| Week | Eastern | Central | Western | Wild Card | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 teams | 1–0 | (Chi, GB) | 1–0 | ATLANTA | 1–0 | 3 teams | 1–0 |
| 2 | DALLAS | 2–0 | 4 teams | 1–1 | ATLANTA* | 1–1 | 8 teams | 1–1 |
| 3 | DALLAS | 3–0 | MINNESOTA | 2–1* | ATLANTA | 2–1 | 3 teams | 2–1 |
| 4 | DALLAS | 4–0 | MINNESOTA | 3–1 | ATLANTA | 3–1 | WASHINGTON | 3–1 |
| 5 | DALLAS | 5–0 | MINNESOTA | 4–1 | ATLANTA* | 3–2 | 3 teams | 3–2 |
| 6 | DALLAS | 6–0 | MINNESOTA | 4–2 | ATLANTA* | 4–2 | LOS ANGELES | 4–2 |
| 7 | DALLAS | 7–0 | MINNESOTA | 5–2 | ATLANTA* | 4–3 | ST. LOUIS* | 4–3 |
| 8 | DALLAS | 8–0 | MINNESOTA | 5–3 | LOS ANGELES | 5–3 | ST. LOUIS* | 5–3 |
| 9 | DALLAS | 8–1 | MINNESOTA | 6–3 | LOS ANGELES | 6–3 | ST. LOUIS* | 6–3 |
| 10 | DALLAS | 8–2 | MINNESOTA | 6–4 | LOS ANGELES | 7–3 | ST. LOUIS | 7–3 |
| 11 | DALLAS | 9–2 | MINNESOTA | 7–4 | LOS ANGELES | 8–3 | ST. LOUIS | 7–4 |
| 12 | DALLAS | 10–2 | MINNESOTA | 8–4 | LOS ANGELES | 8–4 | ST. LOUIS* | 7–5 |
| 13 | DALLAS | 11–2 | CHICAGO* | 8–5 | LOS ANGELES | 10–3 | WASHINGTON* | 8–5 |
| 14 | DALLAS | 12–2 | MINNESOTA* | 9–5 | LOS ANGELES | 10–4 | CHICAGO* | 9–5 |
* other teams with same W-L record
American Football Conference
| Week | Eastern | Central | Western | Wild Card | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (Bal, Mia) | 1–0 | 3 teams | 1–0 | (Den, Oak) | 1–0 | 5 teams | 1–0 |
| 2 | (Bal, Mia) | 2–0 | (Cle, Hou) | 2–0 | (Den, Oak) | 2–0 | 3 teams | 2–0–0 |
| 3 | (Bal, Mia) | 3–0 | CLEVELAND* | 2–1 | (Den, Oak) | 3–0 | 2 teams | 3–0 |
| 4 | BALTIMORE | 4–0 | HOUSTON | 3–1 | (Den, Oak) | 4–0 | 2 teams | 4–0 |
| 5 | BALTIMORE | 5–0 | PITTSBURGH* | 3–2 | DENVER | 5–0 | OAKLAND* | 4–1 |
| 6 | BALTIMORE* | 5–1 | PITTSBURGH* | 3–2 | DENVER | 6–0 | OAKLAND* | 5–1 |
| 7 | BALTIMORE | 6–1 | CLEVELAND | 5–2 | OAKLAND* | 6–1 | DENVER | 6–1 |
| 8 | BALTIMORE | 7–1 | CLEVELAND | 5–3 | OAKLAND* | 7–1 | DENVER | 7–1 |
| 9 | BALTIMORE | 8–1 | PITTSBURGH* | 5–4 | OAKLAND* | 8–1 | DENVER | 8–1 |
| 10 | BALTIMORE | 9–1 | PITTSBURGH* | 6–4 | DENVER | 9–1 | OAKLAND | 8–2 |
| 11 | BALTIMORE* | 9–2 | PITTSBURGH | 7–4 | DENVER | 10–1 | OAKLAND | 9–2 |
| 12 | BALTIMORE* | 9–3 | PITTSBURGH | 8–4 | DENVER | 11–1 | OAKLAND | 9–3 |
| 13 | BALTIMORE* | 9–4 | PITTSBURGH* | 8–5 | DENVER | 12–1 | OAKLAND | 10–3 |
| 14 | BALTIMORE* | 10–4 | PITTSBURGH | 9–5 | DENVER | 12–2 | OAKLAND | 11–3 |
* other teams with same W-L record
Read more about this topic: 1977 NFL Season
Famous quotes containing the words division and/or races:
“Between married persons, the cement of friendship is by the laws supposed so strong as to abolish all division of possessions: and has often, in reality, the force ascribed to it.
”
—David Hume (1711–1776)
“Late in the afternoon we passed a man on the shore fishing with a long birch pole.... The characteristics and pursuits of various ages and races of men are always existing in epitome in every neighborhood. The pleasures of my earliest youth have become the inheritance of other men. This man is still a fisher, and belongs to an era in which I myself have lived.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)